Just like old timesGerry Hunsicker, architect of five playoff teams in nine years, returns for first time to scene of his prime

RICHARD JUSTICE, Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle |
May 23, 2010

Gerry Hunsicker was the architect of five playoff teams and acquired virtually all the talent for the 2005 team that won the National League pennant a year after he left.

Gerry Hunsicker wasn't sure how he'd feel being back on that field, back in the ballpark where he'd invested so much of his heart and soul.

He knew there would be a tidal wave of emotion and memories, perhaps some regret, too. He wondered if he should even go back at all.

And then there he was Friday afternoon at Minute Maid Park, standing a few feet from home plate, taking second and third glances at those banners, greeting old friends and feeling, well, wonderful.

“You know what, I was really anxious to get in here and see how I would feel,” he said. “I can't tell you how good I feel here. I feel jubilation. I'm proud to have been part of this organization. It's a beautiful park, and I have a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings about this place.”

There are days he has trouble comprehending it has been 5 1/2 years since his departure. His nine years as general manager of the Astros were a special time for baseball in this city, as the franchise became one of the game's best and smartest.

Hunsicker was the architect of five playoff teams and acquired virtually all the talent for the 2005 team that won the National League pennant a year after he left.

He was absolutely brilliant at shaping rosters, identifying talent and understanding chemistry and leadership. He inherited a wealth of minor league talent, but no one deserves more credit for getting the Astros to a level they hadn't been before or since.

He left after the 2004 season, and all these years later, it's unclear if he was fired or left on his own. He had a tense relationship with Drayton McLane during those last years, and if McLane didn't actually fire Hunsicker, he certainly didn't mind seeing him go.

Hunsicker, now Tampa Bay Rays senior vice president of baseball operations, watched the Astros at home this weekend for the first time since leaving.

As he stood there on the field, his mind drifted back to another time in his life.

“That first playoff team, 1997, I remember vividly,” he said. “It was the first time in a decade the club had qualified for postseason, and that clearly was a great event. Of course, the 1998 team stills holds the record for most wins in the history of the franchise. That was an extraordinary year, very rewarding.

A really big deal

“The Randy Johnson trade will always be high on my list. It was so fun to see the excitement it generated. I think it started the momentum turning Houston from a football city to a baseball city.

“Then of course 1999, the last year at the Dome, to clinch on the final day of season, to close out the era of the Astrodome in that dramatic fashion was an incredible moment. We finally got the playoff monkey off our backs in 2004. I still look back (at the NLCS that year) as one of our greatest disappointments. We had that series in our hands. We should have gone to the World Series.”

Whatever differences Hunsicker and McLane had back then, they've both decided to say all the right things at this point.

“The only thing I want to say is that we had our ups and downs together,” Hunsicker said. “With all the challenges, you'd have to say we had a successful relationship. He gave me an opportunity to be a general manager.”

I always suspected McLane was insanely jealous that Hunsicker got the credit for every good thing that happened to the Astros while the owner got the blame for all the bad stuff.

McLane begins to tell me this is completely wrong, but I interrupt to say he couldn't look me in the eye and deny that Hunsicker annoyed him.

“Lots of people annoy me,” he said. “You annoy me sometimes.”

If he keeps talking like that, I'll start limiting my free advice.

“Gerry and I got along,” McLane said. “I have a real good policy that if I can't get along with somebody or somebody doesn't like me, there's no point. We didn't agree always. I never raised my voice to him, and he never raised his voice to me. We had some really good times. If I'd disliked him, we would have parted ways a long time ago.”

In decline

There are days when it seems Hunsicker took the organization's brains with him. Whether that's true or not, there's no denying his departure triggered a steady decline.

Now the Astros are a mess. Attendance is down 30 percent since 2007 and the club is on a pace for 104 losses, which would be the franchise's most ever.

They're going to miss the playoffs for a fifth straight year, something they never did during Hunsicker's time as general manager. Last week, McLane said he understands the time has come to stop talking about winning a championship and to focus on rebuilding from the ground up.

Would things have been different if Hunsicker had stayed, if McLane hadn't turned to the incompetent Tim Purpura, if Phil Garner hadn't been fired, etc.?

“I don't like to see anybody suffer, especially an organization where I spent so much of my career,” Hunsicker said. “I know it's a tough period. I have a lot of respect for the people running the baseball department. I go back a long way with Ed (Wade) and Tal (Smith). They're two very solid baseball men and will get this thing turned around.

“I still think it's a team good enough to challenge in that division. There's not a monster in that division. You look at that roster, and I really think, barring injuries, they're good enough to get back into the race in that division.”

Rays of hope

Meanwhile, his Rays have baseball's best record, with a gifted pitching staff, a brilliant general manager in Andrew Friedman and one of the game's top managers in Joe Maddon.

Once upon a time, the Rays were where the Astros are now, stuck in last place without a coherent plan for the future. This, too, shall pass.

Hunsicker didn't come back this weekend to live in the past. He came back to see his current team, to catch up with old friends and to soak in the memories.